Abstract
The orientation and support of online learners are key issues for many institutions with large online cohorts. The tyranny of distance combines with a range of demographic, behavioural and cultural aspects to make orientation and support of online learners more complex than it is for traditional internal cohorts. Students from low socio-economic backgrounds, students who are the first in family to experience university study, mature age students and other non-traditional university students present unique challenges to university support services. The Outreach Team at Charles Sturt University seeks to overcome these problems by providing face-to-face orientation for online students via a series of visits to cities and towns across Australia. These visits are supplemented by telephone and email support throughout the remainder of a students’ candidature. Data analysis suggests that interaction with the Outreach Team has a positive impact on students’ confidence, achievement, persistence and timely completion.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Proceedings of STARS Conference 2017 |
| Publisher | UNISTARS.ORG |
| Pages | 1-9 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Publication status | Published - 10 Jul 2017 |
| Event | Students Transitions Achievement Retention & Success (STARS) Conference 2017: STARS 2017 - Stamford Grand, Adelaide, Australia Duration: 02 Jul 2017 → 05 Jul 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170625050600/http://unistars.org/ (Conference website) http://unistars.org/papers/STARS2017.pdf (Conference proceedings) |
Conference
| Conference | Students Transitions Achievement Retention & Success (STARS) Conference 2017 |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Australia |
| City | Adelaide |
| Period | 02/07/17 → 05/07/17 |
| Other | The STARS conference provides the opportunity to disseminate and discuss current research, good practice, emerging initiatives and leading edge ideas that are aimed at enhancing students’ tertiary learning experiences. |
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